Process of making artificial leather



R. B. QRESPESS.

PROCESS OF MAKING ARTIFICIAL LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, I919.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY U ITED STATES PATENT orl-"ica.

ROLAND B. 'RESPESS, NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO RESPRO INC., 015 GRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF RHODE ISLAND.

- PROCESS OF MAKING ARTIFICIAL LEATHEILH E E D Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1922.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be'it known that I, ROLAND B. Rasrnss, citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improveric having a matted or felted surface on one side of the fabric.

The organizationof my invention comprises the production of an artificial leather made in rolls, preferably of fifty yards and upwards in length, from cotton or other fibers made into a felted sheet, or a woven n fabric one side of which is felted or has a loose fiber nap, saturating the fiber with a coating binding agent such as a rubber com; pound or cellulose, drying, pressing the material under tension and finishing one or both sides of the same with a surface dresssired.

in to form a fabric resembling leather.

Tn general terms my artificial leather is made by taking suitable fabric of the character described and winding it on a wooden core havin a square hole through the center through which a metal bar may be placed, placing the rollof fabric in a machine similar to a doublin or facing machine having two ressure ro s which travel'at the same spee saturating one or both sides of the fabric as it is-unwbund under tension and pressing the binding solution into the fabric, after which it passes to a drying chamber and the solvent in the binding agent is evaporated. The fabric which comprises the base layer as indicated in section in the accompanying drawing is next subjected to tension and again passed between rolls and pressed. This process may be repeated to introduce an additional binding agent if de- My next step is to coat the prepared fabric with a surface layer of dressing as shown in section in the drawing, though for some purposes the undressed fabric may be used as undressed leather is used in the arts. The surface dressing may be placed on the fabric in the same manner that artificial leather, made of woven cloth is finished, by passing it under a knife in a coating mawhich is compact like leather and of much greater strengththan is secured with the felted cloth before it is so treated. The spe-. cial feature claimed for this product is that by saturating in the manner described, instead of coating the surface in the manner now employed in the manufacture ofartificial leathers, the binding-coating agent is pressed into and becomes a part of thefab:

ric and thereafter when the finishing surface coat or coats are applied they adhere more firmly to and become an integral part of the fabric. The invention lies chiefly in the preparation of fabric by pressing some of the binding agentinto the fabric by means of pressure rolls and thereafter applying tl ae dressing to the surface in the usual ma ner.

The binding agent may be composed of cellulose compound, boiled linseed oil, gelatine, rubber or other suitable. adhesive agents. One binding agent may be used, if desired, for saturating the fabric and another for the surface dressing or one agent may'be employed throughout. When rubber is usedas the binding agent or surface dressing, vulcanizing agents are combined with the gum rubber and the product is vulcanized. Y a i The surface dressing may consist of rubber to which a vulcanizing agent may be added.

In referring to felted fabric itis intended to cover fiber batting which has been sub-' jected to the felting process.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent and claim is a The herein described process of making artificial leather consisting in saturating a felted fabric under pressure with a binding agent to form a sheet, drying the sheet,

pressing under tension and coating the sur-.

face of the sheet witha leather dresslng. Signed at the borough of Manhatta n in the county of New 'York and State of New .York, this 12th day of-June, A. D. 1919.

ROLAND B. RESPESS. 

